Keating Five to Four
by MysteryGal5
Summary: (spoilers for 3x09) The death of Wes surprised everyone the moment it happened and now they must all grieve, but not without getting some closure. (OS)


**Okay so I wrote this at midnight after watching the most recent episode (3x09 - Who's Dead?). The episode put me in so much pain and shock that I just needed to write this. Wes' death has made me numb, completely numb.**

 **Note: This is my first HTGAWM one-shot, so please forgive me for inevitable OOC. Also, this is a slight AU.**

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Keating Five to Four:

They say that funerals are for the dead. Those are the people who have never been given the chance to grieve, who never had a loved one ripped away from them. Those people believe that funerals are for the ones who have passed. Funerals are really for the living. They're the ones who will forever feel as if a part of them is now gone; they're the ones who will have to attend the service in all black and try their best not to cry too loud to attract all the attention or receive unwanted doting; they're the ones who have to stand in a sullen cemetery and watch the coffin be lowered into the ground, never to be raised again.

-o-

The fire at Annalise's house happened so quickly for anyone to comprehend. Everyone was frazzled, trying to figure out why Annalise called them and why she got arrested and where their friends were to make sure they weren't dead in the fire; especially since Laurel was admitted into the hospital. All of them: Mikayla, Connor, Oliver, and Asher all stood with racing hearts as they looked at Bonnie, demanding to know who was the male body found inside the burning house.

The moment Wes' name rang in their ears, they all broke down. Mikalya wanted to scream, Connor resisted emotions, Asher needing to sit back and process this shock, and Oliver crying freely. When Wes' picture appeared on the television as the identified male body found in the house fire, Meggy and Laurel held each other close in the hospital bed as they cried on each other.

That was the worst night the Keating Five ever had to face (and they've been through a lot individually and together).

-o-

Weeks after, a cold breeze whisks over the cemetery at the small congregation of people surrounding a closed coffin. Black jackets were buttoned to the top and hands were kept in pockets. Eye contact was avoided since most eyes were filled with tears that were either looking to the ground or to the grey overcast sky above.

Not a lot of people showed up for the actual burial. Only Annalise, Bonnie, the Keating Five - now four, Meggy, and Oliver came since they all had a closer bond with Wes than anyone else on university campus.

Bonnie stood in front, facing everyone since she was chosen out of all of them to officiate the ceremony. They chose her to perform since she seemed to be the only one to be able to hold herself together. She straightens her posture and clears her throat. All eyes slowly veer to her and Bonnie looks back at all of them.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Bonnie starts solemnly, "it is with mixed emotions that we look upon today. Wes Gibbins died as he lived - helping people no matter their origin, lightening anyone's day as he walked in the room - all of those characteristics we wish to be inside all of us."

Connor stands firm on his two feet, arms straight down. He breaths sharp yet soft breaths, masking his anger and grief. He feels the need to ball his hands into fists, tightening them with all his strength, but his hand softens up when he feels someone lightly nudge his arm. Connor looks over with the corner of his eye. He sees Oliver standing beside him with red-rimmed eyes and paler-than-usual skin. Oliver offers Connor a tissue and even though he wasn't crying tears, he took one.

"The climatic ending of Wes was an ending, but not for the young man who will remain in our memories forever."

Annalise exhales a cold breath, able to see it before her eyes. She accidentally makes eye contact with Bonnie and immediately looks to the ground. Annalise feels tears pouring down her face and she watches them drop onto her shoes and the dirt below just until her vision blurs from the overload of tears. Even though Wes didn't die because of the fire, he died in her house - his body was found in _her_ house and she saw it under the sheets, completely unrecognizable to the boy she saw walk into her law classroom. Everything that has ever happened in his life that drastically changed it and brought him to that coffin set before her was all her fault.

And now there is nothing more she can do to protect him.

"Wes is one of us, one of the best. He was able to see and survive what no child should ever have to experience, and that shaped him into the man he became. He will always be giving us something to strive for."

Asher stares straight at the coffin in pure shock, still not believing what is going on. He thinks back to whenever Wes was smiling and thinks that at those moments since he was alive. Not just that, but he was happy as well. He escapes his thoughts when he hears Mikayla blowing her nose into a tissue beside him. She exhales, her breathing stuttering from the emotions she's going through. Asher puts his arm around Mikayla and she liberally cries into the crook of his jacket.

"While this day is far from a happy affair, it does allow us to deeply reflect and the opportunity to truly remember the man we got to know. From the funny to the poignant, this affair not only presents Wes as a simple human, but as a multi-dimensional person."

Laurel and Meggy stand close to each other, both silently crying with their eyes glued onto the coffin that has the boy they love(d) lying dead inside. Meggy rests her head on top of Laurel's, careful for the bruises and cuts that remain on her body from the house fire. Laurel takes a deep breath and squeezes Meggy's hand tightly for comfort and support. She takes a second to look below and hover her free hand over her stomach, trying to alleviate the life that lives in there.

"This day also shows us the important people Wes had in his life and how they saw him: a friend, a lover, a colleague, a student, but most important, family. Sometimes it's through absence that we see the true value of someone."

Everyone takes the moment to look at each other. Despite their different relationships and ways of grieving, they were all here for Wes. They all came because they cared about him in some way and knew that if it was the other way around, he would've done the same for them.

Bonnie picks up a bouquet of roses from her feet. She holds them out and everyone collectively takes a rose. One by one, they place their rose on top of the coffin, some even adding a final kiss goodbye.

"He was young," Bonnie slightly chokes on her own words from a sudden lump of emotion that formed in her throat, but she lightly shakes her head and composes herself quickly. "He still had so much of the world to see. He was just taken from us too early..."

With those last words, Bonnie joins the others were they all stand. Together, they watch the flowered coffin be lowered slowly and gracefully into the ground. Once it's flowered with only a few roses, each one of them pause for a moment and have a quick reflection before turning around and going down their own path.

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 **Okay, let's pretend everything was kind of normal after the events of the episode just so it's possible for this to happen. I don't know. This is what happens to me when shows just destroy my mind. This fic kind of helped me grieve through that episode.**

 **Anyways, thank you all for reading!**

 **~ MysteryGal5**


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